Andy took some pictures of the fire yesterday. The first four were taken on the way up to the land:
Unfortunately the fire was very active Tuesday evening, and it moved into the Valles Caldera National Preserve. As of 9:00 p.m. last night the fire had burned 10,400 acres, but the 816 people fighting the fire had managed to preserve the buildings and most of the old growth (300-400 years) Ponderosa pines. The fire spread because the humidity dropped and the wind picked up, but hopefully there will be a break in the weather.
Three air tankers and six helicopters are dropping fire retardant and water on the fire. A lot of them were flying over our land yesterday. Here’s a picture of one of the DC-10 air tankers. Andy says the picture isn’t very good because he was inside eating lunch when he heard the plane and ran outside to snap the picture.
And here’s a picture of one of the helicopters with the water bucket. (They fill it from a local lake.)
Keep your fingers crossed that the excitement will be over by next week this time! The fire is still only 5% contained.
Any news where you are?
That scenery actually looks familiar. After we visited Bandolier National Monument and Los Alamos about 9 years ago, we went through this area on our way up to Farmington, where we stayed for couple of days before going on up into Colorado. It was early July as we were in Farmington for their 4th of July fireworks. No fires when we went through, though it was very hot — got up to 110°F when we drove out to the town of Shiprock. That’s why we headed out early in the day for a visit to Chaco Culture National Historic Park (our 2nd visit there).
oh monk.
the thought of that fire ever spreading to the new cabin…
doesn’t even bear thinking about. yes i will hold good thoughts. thank god they saved the old stand of pine.
such an unforgiving part of the country we live in.
trees are the ones who suffer. and they take so long to grow.
you’d think we’d have better options in fighting the flames.
like HUGE ENTERPRISE SHIPS that could douse the fire in a minute! ah well. just in the movies.
stay safe and cool dear heart.
Just the usual here in Oz.
A federal election is now about 99 days away. A good time to avoid the mass media.
Mike,
Yes, in spite of the fire they’re great pictures. We went to Chaco Canyon once, so you’ve been there more than we have. It was a great one-day trip for us. We went around Thanksgiving, so it wasn’t hot at all.
tammy,
There’s no danger of fire hurting the cottage, because there are no trees around it. We have a superb firebreak. Our main danger is probably lightning, because with the trees gone the cottage is one of the highest places around. If we get struck we’ll wonder if someone is trying to tell us something. Time to move on?
Evan,
Unfortunately these fires are getting to be the usual around here. I agree elections are a good time to avoid the media. 🙂
Exactly the opposite is happening here Jean. We have the satisfaction of seeing the monsoon set in on time. We do have the usual water-logging in the beginning but that is something that disappears in a few days.
I do hope that the fire does not spread and cause much damage at your place.
Rummuser,
Again, I’m happy for you. The humidity around here is around 5-10%, so more fires are springing up.